Kurt Busch knows it's now or never to make title push

DOVER, Del. -- Kurt Busch was penalized and demoralized the last time he left Dover.

His tantrum in the pits cost him 100 points and a coveted spot in the top 12 of the Chase standings. Thanks to a late surge over the final two months, the temperamental Busch recovered and qualified for NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup championship.

Now, the former Nextel Cup champ is back at the Monster Mile, mired in a similar points hole, with even less time to recover. He's 102 points behind with nine races remaining.

Another faulty part or a wreck could cost Busch and the No. 2 Dodge a chance to finish near the front of the field and all but end his shot at a second Cup championship.

For a driver once known for his hot temper, Busch instead is keeping his cool.

"To have a small setback in the beginning still gives you nine races to go to make up that small deficit," said Busch, the 2004 champ. "No panic mode. We just hope this weekend at the Monster Mile is better for us."

Busch plummeted from fifth to 12th in the Chase standings after last week's 25th-place finish at New Hampshire, putting him a more than 100 points behind leaders Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. His Dodge lost a cylinder and struggled with carburetor problems resulting in the worst finish of all the Chase drivers.

"We got beat by a $5 part," Busch said. "We don't ever usually have those types of failures. It usually doesn't happen in the garage area."

He was running up front for the early part of the race and one of the few drivers to hang with winner Clint Bowyer. But his car slowed on the 122nd lap with his parts failing and he couldn't recover.

"It could have been worse. It could have been much worse," he said. "To finish 25th with that problem, we felt like we (avoided) a bigger problem that we could have had to finish 40th or so. It's definitely a tough hit."

Busch has some experience rallying back from a big hit in the points race. He was cruising and had a spot in the top 12 until he came to Dover in early June. Busch lost his temper after his car made contact with Tony Stewart's No. 20, and he took his anger out via some pit road rage.

Busch pulled his car next to Stewart's car, forcing a member of Stewart's crew to jump back and onto the hood. NASCAR parked Busch, and he finished 42nd.

Busch was docked 100 driver points, fined $100,000 and placed on probation -- one of the stiffest penalties handed down by NASCAR. Busch fell from 11th to 17th in the Chase standings and turned what should have been summer tuneups into pressure-packed races.

The penalties might have been enough to derail another driver's season. But instead of crumbling, the Penske Racing driver put together one of the finest stretches of his career.

He had seven top 10s in the final nine races leading up to the Chase, including wins at Pocono and Michigan. Results like that give Busch the confidence he can come back again.

"Knowing that we had a good stretch of top 11 finishes or better was great. You're going to have those little hiccups," he said. "But we know as a team we're strong and we're going to bounce back from them."

He started off this weekend strong, qualifying fourth for Sunday's race at Dover International Speedway. Busch finished fourth in the September race here last year and has three other top 10s.

If Busch if feeling the heat only one race into the Chase, he sure isn't showing it.

"We're only 100 points behind," Busch said. "We've been in bigger holes before, this year even."

True, but another points penalty for Busch, or any of the other 11 drivers, could cripple their title chances. Johnson and Gordon are two other Chase drivers also docked 100 points this season, although those penalties were for various infractions on the car and not for a fit of rage.

No matter the reason, teams in the Chase know they can't afford any slip ups.

"Teams in this Chase are going to have problems," said Jeff Burton, 11th in the standings. "All 12 teams aren't going to get through it unscathed."

But if another driver or two get busted for doing something wrong, or suffer the same kind of mechanical issues that hit Busch last week, then maybe he really can drive into contention. And it's exactly why Busch refuses to rule out a serious run at the championship.

"We feel like we're a strong team that can bounce back," he said.